On occasion of the show Unerasable Memories – a historic look at the Videobrasil Collection, the Brazilian anthropologist, historian and curator Lilia Schwarcz discusses the video A Arca dos Zo’é (1993). Made by filmmaker and indigenist Vincent Carelli in partnership with anthropologist Dominique Gallois, the documentary was built from footage taken by the Wajãpi tribe (from Brazil’s Amapá state) while visiting the village of the Zo’é (in the state of Pará). The Wajãpi attended training workshops held by NGO Vídeo nas Aldeias (Video in the Villages), directed by Vincent Carelli, and designed to provide training and enable the production and dissemination of indigenous culture via audiovisual products created by the natives themselves. In this statement, Schwarcz revisits considerations he made in his exhibition book text, bringing up the term “anthropology of the encounter” and the notions of reflexivity/reflexibility. He comments on the – irremediable – interactions between these two tribes, mutually contaminated by each other’s culture as a result of the meeting. He also expounds on the revolutionary character of the proposal of NGO Vídeo nas Aldeias, which Carelli established in 1986. To Schwarcz, the NGO defies convention by providing the Other with autonomy to conduct the narrative process. A Arca dos Zo’é was first shown by Videobrasil during the 10th Festival (1994).
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